Method of and means for mixing and atomizing liquids



c. KlLlCH 2,246,211

METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR MIXING AND ATOMIZING LIQUIDS June 17, 1941.

Filed Jan. 24, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet l June 17, 1941. Q 2,246,211

METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR MIXING AND ATOMIZING LIQUIDS Com (10". KzZZc/zfiw a Patented June I7, 194i METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR MIXING AND ATOMIZING LIQUIDS Conrad Kilich, Milwaukee, Wis.

Application January 24, 1938, Serial No. 186,573

9 Claims.

This invention relates to a mixing and atomizing attachment of the typeutilizing the flow of a liquid therethrough to pick up a material formixing therewith. More particularly the invention relates to an improveddevice of the above character which is adapted for use with the ordinarygarden hose and atthe pressures found therein, and which is well adaptedto apply insecticides, fungicides and the like to plants and the foliageof trees in'an improved manner;

In mixing devices of the type here involved it is generally found thatthe resulting mixture of materials is not homogeneous. To obviate thisdecided disadvantage and as one of the objects of the invention, thereis provided herein an improved construction for conditioning the liquidso that when the material to be picked up merges therewith it will do soto form a homogeneous mixture or solution. This is accomplished hereinby providing a swirl momentum and by providing a rough surface on thebody of liquid at the point where the insecticidal ingredient mergestherewith.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved constructionwherein the mixture formed is finally atomized and emitted as a welldispersed body, this being accomplished herein by additionally atomizingthe mixture before it is dispensed into the atmosphere.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved constructionwhich imparts to the device an improved mixing action, with the resultthat a small volume of the active ingredients may be mixed with thereduced flow of a hose stream and yet a homogeneous, atomized finalproduct is obtained. The use of a smaller volume of Well mixed solutionis highly advantageous in that when too great a volume of material isdischarged onto the plants or foliage it is inclined to wash off or fallto the ground, thus being of no benefit to the plant life.

Still another object of the invention is to increase the throw ofmaterial by reducing the swirl momentum before the mixture is dispensedinto the atmosphere.

More specifically it is an object of the invention to provide anattachment of the class described with a liquid conducting duct, whichduct has, in the following order in the direction of flow of the liquidthrough the duct, a deflector for imparting a swirling motion'to liquidpassing through the duct; a swirl chamber following the deflector; arestriction in the duct following the swirl chamber; an expansionchamber following the restriction; an outlet of a material conductingpassage in the expansion chamber, said passage having a ball valveoperated inlet adapted for immersion in a body of an active ingredient;an impact atomizer following the expansion chamber; and an outwardlyflared mixture outlet.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an attachment of theclass described with a material container, and to provide an air passageto the container through the attachment, this air passage having aninlet port in the vicinity of the mixture outlet port so that both portsmay be covered by a single cap to prevent the contents of the containerfrom spilling through either passage.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description and accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the attachment; Fig. 2 is a longitudinalcross section of the attachment;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the attachment;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged, cross sectional view of the mixing and atomizingmechanism in the liquid duct;

Fig. 5 is an end view of the deflecting element;

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the deflecting element; and

Fig. '7 is a fragmentary front view of the device showing the atomizingjet.

It is to be understood that the embodiment disclosed herein is forillustrative purposes only and may be modified without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Referring to Fig. 2, the attachment comprises generally a casing Illhaving an internally threaded horizontally extending inlet ll fittedwith a sealing gasket Ha, and shown herein as receiving the outletconnection l2 of a garden hose 13. In its lower part, the attachment hasan internally threaded, vertically extending container receiving recessI4 fitted with a sealing gasket Ma, and adapted to receive the neck of asuitable container 15 for insecticides or the like. At the forward endof the casing in there is a horizontally directed mixture outlet l6 andon this side the casing is formed to provide an externally threadedextending portion I'I adapted to receive a suitable cap It. A lug I9 isformed on the upper forward portion of the casing and a suitable valveoperating handle 20 is pivoted to this lug and extends rearwardly alongthe device to be operated in a manner presently to be described. Theattachment has drilled in its upper side a cylindrical cavity 2| havinga vertical axis, this cavity being adapted toreceive portions of a valvecontrol mechanism.

This valve cavity 2! is so formed that there extends vertically upwardlyfrom its lower surface a pin 22 adapted to align a compression spring 23upon the upper end of which a ball valve 24 is seated. A cylinder-likevalve seating member 25 is secured by a press fit coaxially in thecavity 2| and is centrally bored as at 26, the

ball 24 being normally pressed by the spring 23 against the lower faceof the member 25 to close the passage provided by the bore 26.

A push rod 21 extends downwardly through the bore 26 and bearsdownwardly against the upper surface of the ball 24, the upper end ofthe rod being normally pressed by the spring and ball combinationagainst an abutment lug 28 depending from the lower surface of thehandle 20. The rod 27 is maintained in central alignment in the cavity2| by means of the usual wad of packing 29 which is in turn held inplace by opposed, centrally apertured plugs 30 and 3|. Thus under theinfluence of the spring 23 and ball valve normally closes the passageformed by the bore 26 and under the influence of downward movement ofhandle 20 and rod 21 against the spring, the valve is displaceddownwardly to permit the flow of liquid through said passage.

Liquid from the hose I3 is admitted into a chamber 32 at the rear of thecasing and passes from this chamber through a duct 33 into that portionof cavity 2| below the member 25. The mixture outlet l6 communicateswith that portion of the cavity 2| which is above the member 25 andbelow the packing plug 3| through a duct 34 which serves as the inlet tothe duct designated generally as 35.

It is primarily the passage of material through this duct 35 whichaccomplishes the objects set out above. Assuming that the handle 20 isdepressed to move the plunger rod 21 and ball valve 24 downwardlyagainst the upward pressure of the spring 23 to open the bore 26, theliquid flows, under the influence of normal pressure in the hose I3,into chamber. 32, through duct 33, upwardly in the cavity 2|, throughbore 26 and thence through the passage 34 and discharges from passage 34into a portion 36 of the duct 35. As it progresses along duct 35 theliquid encounters a deflector 31 which is cylindrical'in shape and hashelical grooves 38 cut in the side thereof, which grooves, with the wallof duct 35, form spiral passages through which the liquid passes toassume a swirling motion when emitted into the swirl chamber 39following the deflector 38.

The chamber 39 is formed by a portion of the walls of the duct 35, theforward face of the deflector 38 and a conically drilled recess in therear face of a jet 40 inserted by a press fit in the duct. This jet 40has a central longitudinal passage 4| drilled therein and has its inletat the apex of the conical recess. Thus it will be seen that the liquid,as it is pressure fed through the conical chamber, will be directedgradually to the inlet end of passage 4| and in being so directed willnot encounter any abrupt shoulders or other obstructions thereby to loseits swirling motion.

The liquid is discharged from the passage 4| into an expansion chamber42 formed by the walls of an enlarged portion 43 of the duct 35. thefront face of the jet 40 and the rear face of an atomizing jet 44 havinga forwardly flared passage 44a disposed concentrically with the passage4| and being of larger inlet diameterthan the outlet diameter of thelatter. 3

By reference to Fig. 4, where the liquid is represented schematically atA, it will be seen that the discharge from the passage 4| is somewhatcone shaped, as is usually the case with a swirl discharge, and that theliquid is discharged from the outlet of 4| through the expansion chamberand into the relatively larger inlet of the passage 44a. lhis dischargeof liquid begins to expand immediately upon leaving the passage 4|. Itwill also be seen that the size of this inlet of passage 44a and itsdistance from the discharge outlet of passage 4| is such that the sidesof the cone impinge against the wall of passage 44a at a pointintermediate the inlet and the outlet thereof, and that this impingementis at an acute angle and the forward flow of liquid creates a vacuum inthe annular unoccupied space at the periphery of the inlet of passage44a and in the expansion chamber 42.

Communicating with the lower portion of the expansion chamber is anobliquely disposed fluid inlet duct 45 which is connected at its lowerend to a vertical duct 46 comprising a bore 41 having a vertical inlettube 48 secured therein by a press fit. The tube 48 extends downwardlyinto the container l5 and has its lower enlet end submerged in asolution carried in the container. Back flow of the active ingredientinto the container I5 is prevented by the ball valve 48a which is heldin, and operates at the foot of the tube 48 by virtue of the restrictedinlet thereof. By so preventing the back flow it will be understood thatafter an initial functioning period, the tube 48 and duct 45 will becomefilled and then need not be again filled by the vacuum created, at everysuccessive operation of the handle 20. Thus after this initialoperation, the user need not repeatedly wait for the active ingredientto be drawn from the liquid level in the container but a mixturecontaining the proper proportion of the active ingredient will bedischarged from the attachment immediately upon downward movement of thehandle 20.

If it is desired to clean the ducts of the attachment it is merelynecessary to secure the cap |8 in place, turn the attachmentupside downto prevent the valve 48a from closing the inlet of the tube 48, and openthe bore 26 to permit water from the hose to pass into the duct 35.Under these conditions the water will pass in a reverse direction fromduct 35, through duct 45 and out of the inlet end of tube 48.

As previously stated, the liquid discharged from the passage 4| (intothe expansion chamber 42) immediately expands and has retained itsswirling momentum. This has a dual effect. First, it creates a degree ofdispersion in the discharged liquid whereby the outer surface of thecone becomes rough and is better adapted to pick up'the insecticidal orfungicidal fluid which is drawn upwardly from the container under theinfluence of the previously explained vacuum, which is augmented by theangular impingement of the cone against the walls of the passage 44a.Second, due to theswirling motion the cone picks up the fluid around itsentire circumference to create a more homogeneous mixture. With such aconstruction and under such operation the possibility of a finaldischarge in which the upper portion is dilute or has no insecticidalvalue whatsoever and in which the lower portion contains an excessiveamount of insecticidal material, is obviated.

A further advantagein flaring the passage 44a is that the final.discharge of mixture is in the form of a relatively widely broadcastmass rather h n in. a localized streamwith, the result that a large areaof plants is covered by this dischar e.

Another aspect of the invention is the increase of throw of atomizedliquid after it has left the outlet 6, and this is also accomplishedherein by the presence of the jet 44. It will be readily understood thatthe distance through which the emitted. particles travel after leavingthe outlet IE will be greatlyv reduced by a continued longitudinallyangular momentum, as compared to a discharge path which is longitudinalto the general flow of liquid through the attachment. After impingingagainst the wall of passage 44a the mixture continues to flow along thiswall at the outwardly flaring portion until it reaches the edge 441), atwhichpoint it leaves the jet and is discharged into the atmosphere as acone. Ihe effect of this relatively prolonged passage of the mixturealong the wall of the passage 44a is to considerably reduce the swirlmomentum which has been imparted to the liquid bythe deflector 31. Thuswhen discharged the particles assume a more straight-line path thanwould be the case in the absence of the passage 44a. By increasing thepick-up action of the carrier liquid by creating an expanded roughsurface and by providing a construction wherein the throw of the finalmixture is increased, it will be seen that the necessity of a large,fast flowing volume of carrier liquid is herein eliminated. It has beenfound that the amount of liquid necessary to operate the device may bereduced to about 1 to 3% of the amount passing through the averagegarden hose during normal operation. This results in the elimination ofthe previously mentioned washing away of the active ingredient and alsoeffects a great economy in the amount of active ingredient used per areaof foliage treated.

Another important function of the impingement of the mixture against thewall of passage 44a and the progression of the mixture along said wallto the edge 44?) thereof, is that the final atomization of the mixtur isthereby brought about. In the past it has been the practice to dischargethe material into the atmosphere directly after the mixing operation.However, it is found that a degree of the atomization occurring by thedischarge from the passage 4| is lost during the merging of the liquidin the duct 35 and the liquid from the conduit 45. With the presentconstruction this atomization which has been forfeited during the mixingoperation is restored to the final mixture so that a fine spray ratherthan coarse particles is discharged into the atmosphere. Two factorcontribute to this final atomization, first, the impact of the mixturewith the wall of the passage, and second, the outward flare of thepassage which tends to form a cone-like body of increasing diameter,under which circumstances a further breakdown of the mixture particlesoccurs.

It will be seen that entire control of the device may be .had bymanipulation of the handle 26 which controls the flow of actuating orcarrier liquid from the hose line.

I also contemplate the use of my device as an atomizing attachment, Insuch event the container receiving portion I4 of the casing, theexpansion chamber 42, ducts 49 and 50, duct 45, and tube 48 will bedispensed with and the material being sprayed, such as paint, lacquer orthe like, will be discharged in a manner characteristic to that abovedescribed.

It will be readily understood that as material is withdrawn from the.container it must be replaced by air to permit continued withdrawal. Theproblem which arises with the provision of an air inlet in the system isthat escape of the material through the inlet is likely to occur whenthe device is handled when not in use.

With the present embodiment such a condition cannot occur, since the airinlet is so constructed that it is covered by the usual cap attached toprotect theatomizing outlet. i

In the present embodiment the air inletv for the container I5 is shown acomprising a ver-.- tical duct 49 drilled into the casing l0 and havingits lower. end communicating with the container recess IA of the casing.A horizontally disposed duct 50 has its rear end connected with the duct49, while its forward or inlet end communicates with the atmospherethrough the forward face of the extension ll of the casing l0. Withsucha construction the attachment of cap I8 over the extension I!effectively prevents spilling of liquid through the air inlet or mixtureoutlet.

What I claim is:

1. In a mixing atomizing device attachable to a garden hose, a casing,said casing having a hose attachment inlet at its rear end and a mixtureoutlet at its forward end, a duct providing for the passage of liquidfrom said inlet to said outlet, a valve in said duct for controlling thepas sage of liquid through said duct, an insecticide conduit in saidcasing, said conduit having an inlet adapted for submersion in aninsecticide reservoir and an outlet in said duct, 2. deflectorpositioned in said duct rearwardly of said conduit inlet, said deflectorproviding a helical path for the flow of liquid toward the duct outlet,a jet positioned forwardly of said deflector, said jet having arearwardly flared substantially conical recess and a restricted passageparallel to and centrally aligned in said duct at the apex of theconical recess, a second jet in said duct, said jet being positionedforwardly of said first jet and being spaced therefrom, the spacebetween said jets being aligned with the outlet of said conduit toreceive insecticide therefrom and.provid-. ing an expansion chamber forreceiving liquid emitted as a relatively thin swirling stream from thefirst jet, said second jet having a passage therethrough, the inlet ofsaid passage being larger in diameter and on the same center as theoutlet of the passage in said first named jet, and being flared towardits outlet end, the liquid from said first named jet being adapted to beemitted into said expansion chamber, to expand and disperse therein toacquire a rough, revolving outer surface and to pass into the inlet ofsaid second jet to strike the wall of the passage therein at an angle tobe further atomized by the impact with said wall before emissioninto theatmosphere.

2. In a mixing atomizing device of the. type adapted for attachment to agarden hose at its rear end and having a fluid reservoir secured theretoand communicating therewith, a liquid duct adapted .to conduct liquidthrough said de-,

vice and having an expansion chamber therein,

uid :thereinito, said means including a deflector in said duct, saiddeflector being adapted to provide a helical path for liquid passingthrough the duct toward said expansion chamber, a rear.- wardly flaredconical swirl chamberlocated for- Wardly of said deflector and a jethaving a restrictedpassage, vsaidpassage being on a center with saidswirl chamber atthe apexv thereof and.

having its outlet communicating, with said ex-- pansionchamber, andmeans for creating a vacuum in said expansion chamber to withdraw fluidfrom said conduit for mixture with said liquid, for additionallyatomizing the mixture emitted from said chamber, said means comprising asecond jet located forwardly of said expansion chamber, said secondnamed jet having a passage disposed parallel and concentrically to saidduct, said passage having an inlet of larger diameter than the outlet ofthe passage in said first jet and being flared outwardly forwardly, themixture emitted from the expansion chamber being adapted to impinge uponthe Wall of said passage at an angle thereto and at a point removedforwardly of the inlet thereof and to travel substantiallylongitudinally along said wall to the outlet of said passage.

3. In a, mixing a'tomizing attachment for use on a. garden hose having aliquid inlet and a mixture outlet, a duct providing for the passage ofliquid from said inlet to said outlet, a conduit for conducting fluidinto said duct under vacuum in said duct and an expansion chamber insaid duct for receiving said fluid; in combination in said duct, ahelical deflector, a swirl chamber for receiving liquid from saiddeflector, said swirl chamber having a restricted outlet and beingprogressively, concentrically, of less diameter .toward the outlet, andan atomizing jet located forwardly of said swirl chamber outlet, saidjet having a passage of larger inlet diameter than the said swirlchamber outlet, said passage being flared toward its outlet and beingdisposed concentrically with said swirl chamber outlet, said jet beingspaced from said outlet so that liquid emitted from said outlet strikesthe passage wall at an angle and at a point intermediate the inlet andoutlet of said passage, the space in said duct between the swirl chamberoutlet and the jet passage inlet constituting th expansion chamber.

4. In an atomizing attachment having a fluid inlet and a fluid outletand a duct providing for the passage of fluid from the inlet to theoutlet, in combination, in said duct, a helical deflector, a swirlchamber for receiving liquid from the deflector, said swirl chamberhaving a restricted outlet and being progressively, concentrically ofless diameter toward the outlet and an atomizing jet located forwardlyof said swirl chamber outlet, said jet having a passage there'through,said passage being flared toward its outlet and being disposedconcentrically toward said swirl chamber outlet.

5. In the liquid duct of a device of the class utilizing aspiration asthe actuating force for mixing liquids, in combination, means forimparting a swirl to liquid passing through said duct, a restrictedpassage for receiving the liquid as it progresses forwardly from saidmeans in said duct, an expansion chamber for receiving the liquid as itis discharged with swirling momentum from said restricted passage, aliquid feed conduit leading into said expansion chamber at the edgethereof, and jet means located forwardly of said expansion chamber, saidjet means aifording a mixture passage of larger inlet diameter than thatof the outlet of said restricted passage, being disposed concentricallythereof and being flared toward its outlet end, said expansion chamberbeing of such width that the outlet of said restricted passage is sospaced relative to the inlet of said last named passage that liquiddischarged from said restricted pas-- sage enters said last namedpassage after passing across said expansion chamber and impingesangularly against the wall of said passage at a point thereon betweenthe inlet and the outlet of said passage.

6. In a mixing atomizing device having a liquid duct extendinglongitudinally thereof, and a fluid feed conduit having an outlet at alongitudinally intermediate point of the wall of said duct; incombination in said duct, a restricted discharge port disposed centrallyof the cross section of said duct, a deflector of helical form on theupstream side of said restricted discharge port, a forwardly flareddischarge passage on the downstream side of said discharge port, saidpassage being disposed concentrically with said discharge pont andhaving an inlet adapted to directly receive the entire volume of liquiddischarged by said discharge port, said discharge port and .the inlet ofsaid passage being so spaced that liquid discharging from said port willenter said passage and impinge against the walls thereof at a pointdownstream of the inlet of said passage, said port with said passagebeing so located, when so spaced, longitudinally in said duct that thespace therebetween will be substantially coextensive with the outlet ofsaid feed conduit in the wall of said duct.

'7. In a device of the class described, an inlet orifice and an outletorifice, a duct for conveying liquid under pressure from the inlet tothe outlet, a cap receiving portion on said device, said outlet beingdisposed in said cap receiving portion, a liquid conduit having anoutlet communicating with said duct, means on said device for receivingthe open end of a liquid container, the inlet of said liquid conduitbeing disposed in said container when the latter secured to the device,an air passage in said device, said passage having an inletcommunicating with the atmosphere through the cap receiving portion andan outlet disposed in a portion of said device exposed to the interiorof a containerwhenthelatter is secured to said device, a valve disposedin said duct on the inlet side of said liquid conduit outlet, said valvebeing adapted to normally close said duct against the flow of fueltherethrough.

8. In a portable liquid mixing device of the type utilizing suction towithdraw one liquid into a stream of another liquid, 2. cap receivingportion, a mixture discharge orifice disposed in the face of saidportion, a container securing portion adapted to receive the open end ofa container in sealed relations-hip, a liquid conduit in said device,said conduit having an inlet adapted to communicate with the interior ofsaid container when secured to said device and an outlet adapted todischarge liquid into the stream of the other liquid and an air passage,said passage having an outlet adapted to communicate with the interiorof said container when secured to said device and an inlet communicatingwith the atmosphere, said inlet being disposed adjacent said mixtureoutlet in the face of said cap receiving portion.

9. A method of mixing and atomizing liquids to increase the throwandhomogeneity of the atomized mixture which comprises the steps ofimpelling a liquid forwardly in a stream, imparting a swirl to theliquid, discharging and expanding said swirling liquid, mixing flowingmaterial with said liquid as it expands and before the swirl momentumhas diminished, and reducing the'swirl momentum of the mixture prior tothe discharge thereof.

CONRAD KILICH.

